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Trump Visits Afghanistan, Says Peace Talks With Taliban Have Restarted
U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to U.S. Troops in Afghanistan where he declared that he had reopened talks with the Taliban militant group.
Arriving at Bagram Airfield at around 08:30 p.m. local time, President Trump spent more than two and half hours delivering Thanksgiving greetings to U.S. forces, serving them turkey and meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Bagram, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
During his meeting with President Ghani, Mr. Trump announced that he had restarted peace talks with Taliban that he called off almost three month ago.
“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re saying it has to be a cease-fire and they didn’t want to do a cease-fire, and now they do want to do a cease-fire,” Trump said. “I believe it’ll probably work out that way.”
President Trump also said that the U.S. was “substantially” reducing troop numbers.
“We’ve made tremendous progress and at the same time we’ve been drawing down our troops,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in his remarks at Bagram Airfield thanked U.S troops for their “ultimate sacrifices” and praised Trump’s South Asia strategy for “wiping out ISIS and Al Qaeda.”
He also expressed appreciations to Trump for his “very principled decisions regarding putting limits on the type of peace that will ensure the gains of the past year and ensure your security and our security.”
President Trump’s sudden announcement on peace talks comes about three months after he “called off” the peace negotiations with the Taliban leaders after the group carried out an attack in Kabul in which one American and 11 others were killed.
Last week, three prisoners of the insurgent group were exchanged for two western professors as an effort to revive the negotiations with the Taliban.
Zhao Xing, the Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, has invited political deputy prime minister Mawlavi Abdul Kabir to participate in the upcoming Trans-Himalayan Forum meeting.
The Chinese envoy said at a meeting Wednesday with Kabir that Beijing supports the Islamic Emirate in terms of attending international meetings, especially UN Security Council meetings.
Zhao also said China was committed to cooperating with the Islamic Emirate.
Kabir in turn expressed his gratitude for China’s support and cooperation across numerous sectors and said that as a responsible government, the Islamic Emirate is bound by commitments made and tries to play an active role in regional issues and the stability and development of the region.
Kabir also acknowledged China’s support of the Islamic Emirate and said Beijing’s cooperation can bring about positive changes and economic growth in the country.
Torkham commissioner Mullah Abdul Jabbar Hikmat said Thursday the crossing will be closed for the next three days in order for Pakistan border authorities to move into new premises.
He said the crossing has been closed to travelers and to people seeking medical help in Pakistan.
Hikmat appealed to the public not to make their way to the crossing over the next three days.
However, trucks carrying goods will still be able to cross as per usual, in both directions.
Pakistani media has also reported that the crossing will be closed from May 17 to May 19 in order to enable border officials to move into new premises.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Wednesday that one person was killed and 12 were injured when a helicopter crashed in Firozkoh, the capital of Ghor province.
Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, said on X that on Wednesday morning, an Air Force Mi-17 helicopter, which was sent to Ghor province, experienced technical problems and crashed into a wall during an emergency landing.
In footage published by Afghan media, the wreckage of a helicopter can be seen lying in a fast-flowing river, with crowds of people gathered around it.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Defense said the helicopter had been sent to Firozkoh to retrieve bodies of car crash victims.
The spokesman said a car plunged into the Harirod River a few days ago, resulting in the death of a few people.
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